At the top floor of Xingchen Tower, Huo Zhiyuan stood before the spotless floor-to-ceiling windows.
His handsome reflection stared back at him through the crystal-clear glass as his unreadable eyes gazed at the city below.
His face remained calm and expressionless, giving him the appearance of someone completely composed.
But anyone paying close attention would notice that his tightly clenched jaw betrayed the anxiety hidden beneath that calm exterior.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Before Huo Zhiyuan could even say “Come in,” Assistant Li Fei hurried into the office.
He knew his boss had been waiting anxiously.
“President Huo, Old Zhang reported that something’s happening at Wu Xiulian’s house.”
“He recently discovered that several nights every month, an unfamiliar man sneaks into her home after midnight. He suspects the man is Li Junmin.”
Li Junmin.
The man who had killed Huo Zhiyuan’s parents.
Ten years ago, Li Junmin had driven drunk, hit Huo Zhiyuan’s parents, and fled the scene.
The police chased him all the way to a seaside cliff.
Cornered, Li Junmin drove his truck straight off the edge.
When the search ended, only the truck had been recovered.
His body was never found.
Two years later, his family petitioned the court to have him legally declared dead.
But Huo Zhiyuan had never believed Li Junmin was dead.
Just as he had never believed his parents’ deaths were merely the result of a drunk-driving accident.
From the moment the case had been closed as an accident, he had secretly kept people watching Li Junmin’s family.
For years.
Long enough for Li Junmin’s daughter to grow old enough to enter college.
“Did Old Zhang get a clear look at him?” Huo Zhiyuan asked.
“No.”
“Old Zhang said the man always visits late at night wearing a mask and a hat.”
“But someone else has seen him.”
“Who?”
“Li Baoqiang, a villager from the same village.”
“Old Zhang said Li Baoqiang was the one who first told him Wu Xiulian had been secretly meeting a man at night. After staking out the house, Old Zhang suspected that man was actually Li Junmin.”
“He said the height and build match perfectly.”
According to Li Fei’s investigation, Li Baoqiang was currently working at a construction site in the city.
After so many years of searching…
Huo Zhiyuan had finally found a lead.
He didn’t even bother eating lunch before rushing straight to the construction site.
The fire of hope and anger burned fiercely inside him.
He had always believed that one day…
Li Junmin would fall into his hands.
His emotions were running high.
His pace became increasingly hurried.
The construction site was littered with broken concrete, gravel, and uneven ground.
While searching for Li Baoqiang, he stumbled and fell hard.
When he finally found the site supervisor…
He learned that Li Baoqiang had taken leave.
Whether he would ever come back…
No one knew.
It felt as though someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head.
On the way back…
Distracted and disheartened…
He tripped and fell again.
It happened to be lunchtime.
Workers were gathering to eat, and when they saw what looked like a supervisor fall so spectacularly, they immediately surrounded him with concern.
That was exactly the scene Xue Yanxin witnessed when she arrived to set up her food stall.
…
“What?”
“You want me to arrange for you to work at the construction site?”
Qi Junlin nearly dropped his phone.
“Bro, can you even lay bricks or plaster walls? This is my first real estate project. Please don’t turn it into a dangerous building.”
Although he knew his brother always lost a bit of his usual composure whenever clues about their parents surfaced…
Actually volunteering to work at the site himself?
That was on another level entirely.
“I’m not joking.”
“The moment I got news about Li Baoqiang, he immediately requested leave with no return date.”
“There’s definitely something suspicious.”
Qi Junlin frowned.
“His sudden leave is suspicious, I agree.”
“But whatever’s going on may not even be happening inside the construction site.”
“If it is, then you’re putting yourself directly in danger.”
“If you need information, why not plant someone else there?”
“More importantly, we should continue tracking Li Baoqiang’s whereabouts and keep watching Wu Xiulian.”
“I’ve already arranged people for both of those.”
“As for the construction site…”
Huo Zhiyuan paused.
“No one else may notice what I can.”
“Besides…”
“I also need to give Xue Yanxin an explanation.”
“…Wait.”
Qi Junlin blinked.
“Who exactly is Xue Yanxin to you?”
“Why do you need to explain anything to her?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve actually started thinking of yourself as her husband.”
“If you ask me, maybe she’s the suspicious one.”
Qi Junlin had noticed the change.
His brother wasn’t exactly taking Xue Yanxin’s side…
But he no longer disliked her either.
Before…
He merely tolerated her.
Now…
He was slowly beginning to accept her.
Huo Zhiyuan suddenly froze.
Why…
Had he instinctively wanted to explain himself to her?
Their marriage wasn’t real.
His bankruptcy wasn’t real.
Even her feelings might not be genuine.
Yet…
The thought of Xue Yanxin discovering he’d lied to her made him feel strangely uneasy.
His first instinct had been to cover the lie.
Was it really…
Only because he feared exposing his larger plan?
…
With the lead on Li Baoqiang gone cold, Huo Zhiyuan returned home in low spirits.
Seeing his exhausted expression, Xue Yanxin naturally assumed he’d had a hard day doing physical labor.
She immediately poured him a glass of water before hurrying toward the bathroom.
“You must be exhausted.”
“I’ve already started the bathwater.”
“Go soak for a while.”
As she spoke, she carried a fresh set of clothes into the bathroom like the picture-perfect wife.
For a brief moment…
Huo Zhiyuan felt something strangely familiar.
A sense of warmth.
A feeling of being able to put down every burden.
It reminded him of his childhood.
Whenever his father returned from a business trip, his mother would smile and say,
“You’ve had a long trip.”
“I’ve already prepared your bath.”
“Go relax.”
…
This…
This is what home feels like.
The realization had barely surfaced before he rejected it outright.
Impossible.
He’d lived in luxury under Grandfather’s care for years without ever feeling this way.
And now, after only a few days of eating simple meals with Xue Yanxin…
Suddenly this felt like home?
He shook his head.
I definitely need a bath to clear my mind.
Walking into the bathroom…
He suddenly paused.
Wait.
Didn’t this house only have a shower?
Where did the bathtub come from?
He stepped inside and discovered…
A foldable soaking tub.
The kind usually made for children.
Only…
This one was an oversized version.
For a moment, he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or admire Xue Yanxin’s creativity.
Well…
A bathtub is still better than no bathtub.
…
Meanwhile, Xue Yanxin sat in the living room.
She had been eagerly looking forward to witnessing the classic “handsome man emerging from the bath” scene with her own eyes.
Unfortunately…
Huo Zhiyuan came out fully dressed from head to toe.
What a waste.
I shouldn’t have handed him clean clothes.
She silently mourned the missed opportunity.
When Huo Zhiyuan stepped out, he noticed her eyes, which had been shining brightly moments ago…
Suddenly lost all their enthusiasm.
The light in them disappeared completely.
He instinctively glanced down at himself.
Did I put the clothes on wrong?
Weren’t these the ones she picked out?
Before he could think further, Xue Yanxin smiled.
“I have a gift for you.”
She presented him with an elegantly wrapped gift box.
A trace of anticipation rose within him.
It’s not a holiday…
Nor is it anyone’s birthday.
Could today be some kind of anniversary?
He opened the box with growing curiosity.
Then looked inside.
His already gloomy mood instantly hit rock bottom.
…
Who gives someone a faded camouflage uniform covered in patches as a gift?
Seeing his expression collapse without the slightest attempt to hide it, Xue Yanxin burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“Huo Zhiyuan, what’s with that face?”
“Could you look any more disgusted?”
She laughed until tears nearly formed in her eyes.
“Different occasions call for different clothes.”
“If you dress appropriately, everything goes much more smoothly.”
Huo Zhiyuan, who had grown up treating luxury brands like ordinary clothing, genuinely couldn’t imagine any occasion requiring patched-up camouflage.
A convention for beggars?
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“You really think clothes like these will help me?”
“Everyone at the construction site dresses like this.”
“If you’re too well dressed, you’ll stand out and never fit in.”
“Besides, no matter how expensive your clothes are, after a day’s work they’ll end up looking like rags anyway.”
“Wasn’t that exactly what happened to you today?”
Thinking back to the workers he’d seen…
She wasn’t wrong.
…
Qi Junlin still hadn’t finished arranging Huo Zhiyuan’s assignment to the construction site.
So the next morning, Huo Zhiyuan planned to go to Xingchen Tower as usual.
Unfortunately…
Xue Yanxin didn’t know that.
To avoid being caught wearing that patched camouflage outfit, Huo Zhiyuan deliberately woke up an hour earlier than normal.
He thought that would be enough.
He underestimated her.
Xue Yanxin had gotten up even earlier.
She had already gone grocery shopping and returned home by the time he was leaving.
The moment she saw him heading for the door…
The enthusiastic Miss Xue kindly located the camouflage uniform he’d “forgotten,” then personally helped him put it on before sending him out.
…
A thunderous roar of laughter soon erupted from the executive lounge on the top floor of Xingchen Tower.
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Assistant Li Fei held his breath, trying desperately not to laugh.
Qi Junlin, on the other hand…
Had already collapsed onto the floor.
He pounded the ground while tears streamed down his face from laughing so hard.
Huo Zhiyuan’s face was darker than the bottom of a burnt wok.
The veins on his forehead bulged as he silently repeated to himself:
He’s my biological brother.
My real brother.
We share the same parents.
He’s my poor younger brother who grew up without parents, without support, and suffered outside the family for years.
It’s perfectly understandable that he lacks manners.
Perfectly understandable.
He endured it.
And endured it again.
Finally…
He exploded.
“Are you done yet?”
“Have you laughed enough?”
Qi Junlin struggled to catch his breath.
“Bro… hahaha… no… pfft… it’s not that I want to laugh…”
“It’s just…”
“You actually wore that outfit!”
“How am I supposed to hold it in?”
“Hahahahaha!”
“You always criticize my taste.”
“But after seeing this…”
“I admit defeat.”
“Your fashion sense is so far ahead of its time it’s going to give people arthritis!”
“How could I ever compete with you?”
“Hahahahahaha!”